Treasurer Scott Morrison has branded the dramatic end to five continuous years of economic growth "not just a reminder, not just a wake-up call, but a demand to support economic policies that drive investment and jobs".

Financial market analysts believe the economy went backwards immediately after the July election, ending 5 years of continuous growth and calling into question the government's repeated promise to "deliver jobs and growth".

A further slide in business investment has economic forecasters pondering the unthinkable: that the Australian economy shrank in the September quarter, and that next week’s GDP growth figure will have a minus sign in front of it.